Best Time to Leave the Blind?
Pronghorn
Ideally the best thing to do is stay all day but with nearly 15 hours of shooting light right now that’s not going to happen with this guy. I’ve done all day sits but don’t really want to this time….
So if you were going to leave the blind for 3-4 hours and go back to camp what time would you leave and come back?
I'd leave after I killed one. Come back after I have it quartered and on ice to take down blind.
There isn't a good time. Always run the risk of being seen by or bumping critters in the area and then again on the way back in. If it's mid day, that can disrupt the afternoon/evening.
That said, when I outfitted I was lucky to get a few hours here and there to sit for myself between groups. Still had luck but going in and out in the dark is the best.
Worst is if you have to hike out to a truck. If a ride can grab you at the blind it is usually less impact.
Years of experience have taught me the best time is as soon as the first cramp hita
Been there fuzzy. Killed my biggest bow white tail five minutes after relieving myself of said cramp. That said, it’s not something I’d recommend. I’m with Glunt, it’s a grab bag. The buck below was next to my feeder for thirty minutes around noon on Christmas Day a couple years ago. I got 25 pics of him from my cam which was set for one minute intervals. Obviously, I was not in attendance.
the best time is when it stops being enjoyable. You are hunting for fun and relaxation. it is not meant to be a death sit or torture. Come and go when you want. You will eventually get a crack at one without undue suffering.
The best time is always 3 hours ago or 3 hours from now.
Agree with the truck pick up is best and also with Bou'bound on keeping it fun. Unless there is a known 80"er around, leaving mid day for a couple of hours has risk, but the truck pick up helps reduce it. Good luck.
I almost took the risk of leaving, per hot day in the blind but I stayed put. At 2;30pm this buck watched his does water and then he stood 300 yards away after they left. An hour later, here he came to water. If I had left, coming back I might have spooked the does or even the buck as I might have not seem him on the hill. At 3:30, an arrow stopped him in his tracks. " A good time to leave the blind". Never a good time.
Yeah, you guys are telling me something I already know which is why I started this thread with, “Ideally….” Anyway, I was hoping for a little more insight on the periods during the day with the least amount of activity in case I couldn’t stand to sit for 15 hours.
Although I planned to get out yesterday I didn’t until over 12 hours had passed and the wind came up and blew so hard there’s no way an arrow would hit its mark or gotten good penetration. Plus the blind was shaking and making lots of unnatural noise. Today the wind has been light so I’m in it until close to sundown. Unfortunately I’ve only had four doe come in and water and that was at 6:30 AM today. Lots of sage grouse both mornings to keep the entertainment going but it’s been dead after 8:00 AM. Just me and the flies, Bowsite and a good book.
Good luck. Don't get overheated. I am in the UP, following your hunt. What a world
Sitting water all day will test your sanity for sure did it for 4 days in a row once 56 total hours in the blind not even a doe got into range rained everyday not my idea of a good time have killed goats since at water and usually around 3-5 o’clock was when I had encounters, if I was not gonna sit all day I’d get in at noon especially if temps aren’t extremely hot
If I was going to hunt over water and needed a “break” (break from what, I’m not sure as I’m on vacation, hunting, and NOT in the office!) I’d take it late afternoon to get a siesta before enjoying a drink and grill out. - I just don’t get many days away from my practice to hunt and consider each and every day a break that I suck all I can out of.
Sitting a waterhole is a test-physically and mentally. Waterhole is not a “come & go” style of hunting. You never know when the might lope may show up at a waterhole. Seeing people stirring around a waterhole is a “flag” to heighten awareness and caution for a lope, especially a shooter grade lope.
Go to blind very early and be committed to stay till dark, if necessary. This demands physical and mental toughness.
If I don't have to leave but am going to anyway, I would sit from before dawn until afternoon and then bail out for the rest of the day. I don't want to stir things up twice by going back in.
So many times I've watched a buck in the area stare at the water hole in between feeding and whatever else he is doing for most of the day before finally coming in. I hate getting out and teaching him that his suspicions were correct. I stick it out if possible. Yes, it can start to wear on the brain but plenty of drinks and food, a good book (careful) and believing its about to happen help.
It's odd with every person you get a different opinion. I know a guy, a friend of a friend. They've hunted goats together for many years and have been very successful at it. The one friend who has killed as many antelope as anyone says no sense setting afternoons. The odds are just not worth it he says.
I killed a goat at 3 in the afternoon my very first hunt and several since then in the afternoon. The point being this guy who's undoubtedly an antelope whisperer is a dumb ass on the other front and has taken countless opportunities from himself. You NEVER know when the right time is to make sure you're not "gone."
I’ve killed two antelope over water, one at sun up and one at 2pm. Also killed one at a fence crossing at 3 pm.
As a species, they don't really have any time-of-day patterns to come to water. Since you will be blowing out everything that can see you for miles when you leave, and again when you return, you are wiping out a good block of the day. If you must leave, try to time it when there are no animals in sight, both coming and going. Don't plan on a "particular time of day".
Yes and I have to think after any antelope associates you with that blind they'll never return near the blind again.
Mine have been at 9am, at 6pm on one I watched in sight for 7 hours before he came in, and 5pm.
I think getting in and out is pretty much a waste of time. You will blow out everything around you when you leave and again when you get back. Try to figure out how long you can sit and go from 9-3 or 8-5, whatever you can tolerate. I've shot bucks at 8am and right at sundown. Most of my bucks have come in mid day, 11-4 for the most part.
Another option is to take a moving blanket to lay on the ground in the blind and maybe even a sleeping pad. Lay down and stretch out for a while. I'd rather miss something while I was sleeping than mess up the area by walking around mid day.
I am guessing I have killed a dozen or so antelope. I have not keep up with time I killed. But they have literally been from first hour to last. And spread out fairly evenly through the day. Antelope come to the water when they want to there really is no rhyme or reason to it. I had a buddy have a big buck come to water Tuesday with 10 mins of legal day left.
A suggestion instead of get out of blind for a few hours take a nap. Take a sleeping pad. Worse cause you sleep through in coming in. At least you didn't scare them all out of the country.
There are some tanks/water holes you can sneak in and out of. But not many.
I sat 13 and 14 hours Monday and Tuesday, left the blind both days when high sustained winds came up (30+ MPH). I saw nothing Monday, had four doe come in at sunup Tuesday then nothing except four super spooky wild horses later in the day that ultimately didn’t come in. The hear wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d remembered and not even as hot as a Fourth of July music festival we attend annually. The battery operated mister fan was a game changer.
I shot a nice buck at 6:30 AM yesterday. I’ve now shot four bucks and 3 out of 4 where within 30 minutes of sunrise while the other was +/- 2 hours of noon (can’t remember the exact time). I can’t remember ever having antelope at my spot within 30 minutes of sunset and very few after 4:00 PM. Obviously I don’t have the experience many of you have since in Nevada we had to wait 5 years before applying when successful (now 3 years whether you harvest or not) then realistically you’re another 3-6 years out from that building points so it’s reasonable to expect draw every 7-8 years and can take up to 10 years from your last tag. I’m 58 and have drawn only 5 antelope tags in my life and although I’ve built points in UT and AZ I really don’t have much desire to travel that far so I haven’t applied for a tag.
In any case I agree it’s best to sit all day but it’s also best to do what makes you happy and maximizes personal satisfaction since that’s what this is all about.
Good luck to all of those with upcoming hunts, enjoy the suck and drink tons of water. Leave the blind when your pee bottle is full or hold it :-)
I pee out the door of the blind.
I hunt public land, which means heavy hunting pressure, ... which means animals may not ever show up where you thought they should be. All I can do is share my own personal technic for ground blind hunting. I set up my popup blind and remain awake in the hide all night long for the next day's hunt. Alternating between each all night vigil, I'll head back to camp and sleep. If nothing happens within two nights of blind hunting a spot, I'll move on to another spot, set up, and continue on hunting the same way.
Bill,
I’m not following why you stay in the blind all night and remain vigilant/awake?
Expect because his bot told him so.. LOL
Good point bluedog. I didn’t pick up on that. Lol
Just bring a blow up mattress and take your nap in the blind.
And…. If you’re feeling frisky, a blow up doll ! ;-))
for me its pretty simple. i leave my blind or stand when i dont feel like being there any more...and i return when i do.
hunting is recreation...not prison.
